Mumbai City FC head coach Alexandre Guimaraes has urged his players to continue their good work ahead of their Hero Indian Super League 2016 encounter against hosts NorthEast United FC at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday. With 12 points from eight matches, the Mumbaikars are in the top half of the table and look in a good position as far as their semis chances are concerned. However, Guimaraes is not complacent and wants his players to keep up the tempo.“I think that we just have to keep doing that. Because the games are starting to get close for every team, so it’s going to be very hard to repeat what we have done [in the first half of the league stage] but I’m sure that we will be able do that,” Guimaraes told reporters on Friday.“Starting from day one, from our first game till now, we have always been in the top four, so we are going to try very hard to keep that position. I just spoke to the players that every game is going to be harder because all the teams will now up the tempo, so we have to continue what we have been doing.”Mumbai’s opponents for Saturday’s game, NorthEast United FC have 10 points from seven games and their campaign also looks solid. When asked to comment on the Highlanders, Guimaraes said: “They are in the same situation, I mean from day one they are in the top four like us and they have suffered some injuries in the last few games but that happens to all the teams but we know that they are very tough and we have to play very well to control the game,” the Costa Rican said.Marquee player Diego Forlan, Matias Defederico, Sony Norde, Cafu and Leo Costa all have lived up to their reputation in the first half of the league stage through some solid performances, and Guimaraes said he was pleased that everyone was contributing to the team’s cause. “I am very pleased because in this kind of league, everybody has to be ready to play well and none of them has disappointed us. This is very good for the team because like this we know we are going to win, we can count on every player in defence, offence or midfield,” the 56-year-old said.
